There's a huge crowd gathering inside the Empire right now in preparation for the start of the £10,000 High Roller Heads-Up showdown. The big computerized draw is just about to take place, and there's also the little matter of awarding Jeff Lisandro his fifth gold bracelet amidst a ceremony of pomp and circumstance.
As such, the players at our final table have decided to take a one-hour dinner break right now, escaping the commotion.
They're outta here, and we are too. Play will resume at 6:00 p.m. sharp, so that gives you a full hour to scope out the start of Event #4!
From the button, JP Kelly raised to 28,000, and Jack Lyman moved all in for 108,000 from the small blind. Kelly called with and a chance at the knockout, and Lyman was banking on for the double up.
It was a sweat, but Lyman ultimately held as the board ran to secure his double up. It's been quite the up-and-down day for the nine seat, but he's back in this thing with well over 200,000 once again.
Jack Lyman opened to 31,000 from the button, and this time it was he who would face the reraise. Small blind Scott Shelley made it 88,000 straight, and Lyman moved all in for more than 225,000. Shelley called with his covering stack, but he was dominated and poised to ship a second consecutive double up to Lyman:
Lyman:
Shelley:
The flop was just fine with Lyman as it came to keep him well out in front. The turn, however, was a disastrous , and Lyman threw his hands up in the air in disbelief. He still had seven outs to the win, though, but a blank river card finished him off and sent him out the door in 7th place. It was a remarkably volatile run through the tournament and especially this final table for Lyman. Mark him down for nearly £18,000, but he's come up just a few spots shy of gold.
We've got a lot of action here already in the after-dinner session. This one was a battle of the blinds where Mehdi Senhaji open-shoved from the small blind with . Big blind Kaveh Payman was getting a bit shallow in the stack, and he made the call for 87,000, all in and at risk of elimination. The news wasn't good for him as he sheepishly tabled the very dominated .
The flop brought a good sweat as Payman picked up an open-ender for the double up. The turn was a blank, though, but the river was just what the doctor ordered. A king-high straight is good enough for Payman, and he's found his come-from-behind double up to stay alive in this thing.
First in from the cutoff seat, Mehdi Senhaji open-shoved for 193,000. He made it through to the big blind, but Scott Shelley squeezed out two sevens and made the covering call to put his man at risk. It was the , and it was racing against the of Senhaji.
Shelley's horse ran the fastest as the board ran to hold his sevens and earn him the knockout. For Senhaji, his shot at becoming the first player from Africa to win a gold bracelet has come up short, but his fine performance has earned him a healthy cash consolation prize.
Look out for Shelley now, he's got nearly half the chips in play! We count him at 870,000, heaps really.
Kaveh Payman looked down at , and that was plenty good enough for him to stick all 133,000 of his remaining chips in there. The only problem was that JP Kelly awoke with right next door, and he made the quick call to put Payman in a bad way with five cards to come.
The dealer would provide no help for the at-risk player, either, as he ran out a board of . That's the end of the road for Payman, though the journey was a fun one to watch. His pay bump takes him up over £30,000 and the money is starting to get serious now.
and a chance at the knockout, and Lyman was banking on 
for the double up.
to secure his double up. It's been quite the up-and-down day for the nine seat, but he's back in this thing with well over 200,000 once again.
river card finished him off and sent him out the door in 7th place. It was a remarkably volatile run through the tournament and especially this final table for Lyman. Mark him down for nearly £18,000, but he's come up just a few spots shy of gold.
. Big blind Kaveh Payman was getting a bit shallow in the stack, and he made the call for 87,000, all in and at risk of elimination. The news wasn't good for him as he sheepishly tabled the very dominated 
.
was a blank, though, but the river 
was just what the doctor ordered. A king-high straight is good enough for Payman, and he's found his come-from-behind double up to stay alive in this thing.
, and it was racing against the 
, and that was plenty good enough for him to stick all 133,000 of his remaining chips in there. The only problem was that JP Kelly awoke with 
